Despite overcoming a 12-point second-half deficit, the Oklahoma Sooners were unable to pull out the win vs. the No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks.
The Oklahoma Sooners and the Kansas Jayhawks battled to a closely contested contest at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman on Saturday night.
Coming off of a tough loss in Fort Worth against the TCU Horned Frogs, the Sooners were hoping to bounce back with a win against one of the best teams in the Big 12. The Sooners solved some of the turnover issues that cost them a shot at a win against the Horned Frogs when they had 20 on Saturday.
Against Kansas, the Sooners had just 11 turnovers to the Jayhawks 12. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be enough as the Sooners could not get the final stop to hold onto the victory.
The Sooners and Jayhawks played to a 34-32 lead before the Jayhawks pulled away early in the second half. The Sooners would not be thwarted, battling hard in the second half to get themselves back into the game.
With about 17 minutes left in the second half, the Sooners trailed by 12 points. At 44-32, the Oklahoma Sooners went on a 20-2 run to take a six-point lead with nine minutes left to play in the game.
During the run, Umoja Gibson lost his defender with a beautiful crossover step-back three-pointer to give the Sooners a 47-46 lead.
The Sooners lead or were tied with Jayhawks from the 12:42 mark of the second half until the Jayhawks took the lead 60-58 with 1:18 left on the clock.
With 11 seconds left in the game, the Kansas Jayhawks were able to get the game-winning three-pointer from Christian Braun, who had 15 points, four rebounds, and an assist for Kansas.
Oklahoma answered each Jayhawks score in the final minute with one of their own until Braun hit the three to take the lead for good. Jordan Goldwire made two free throws with under 10 seconds to play, but two more free throws from Braun with four seconds left, and a missed three-quarter court attempt from Elijah Harkless was long, and the Sooners lost for the third straight game.
Goldwire led the way for the Oklahoma Sooners with 15 points on 4 of 9 shooting. While not a great shooting night, he was 7 of 9 from the free throw line. Goldwire added four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Umoja Gibson added 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting, including 2 of 5 from three-point range.
Though the Oklahoma Sooners shot 42% from the field, they were just 23% from the three-point line. The offense was helped by their ability to get to the free throw line. They had 19 attempts from the free throw line but only shot 67%.
The Oklahoma Sooners fall to 12-6 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12 conference with the loss. On Saturday, the Sooners have another tough matchup against the No. 6 Baylor Bears. Kansas improves to 15-2 and 4-1 in Big 12 play. Kansas takes their three-game win streak on the road to Manhattan, Kan., to face their in-state rival Kansas State Wildcats.
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